Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State volleyball team dropped a three-set match on the road to Belmont on Friday night at the Curb Event Center.
The 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 30-28) setback dropped the Gamecocks to 16-14 and 7-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Belmont, the second place team in the league, is now 14-13 and 10-3 in the OVC.
Senior
Nicole Merget's 11 kills led the way for the Gamecocks, while freshman
Allyson Zuhlke added nine kills on a .471 attack percentage. Freshman setter
Jennifer Hart had 23 assists while JSU only managed to hit .128 combined. Defensively, the Gamecocks were led by junior libero
Samantha Bohne's 18 digs.
Emily Rutherford was next with 14 digs.
The Gamecocks fell behind early in the opening set after a 6-6 tie. Belmont went on to build a 20-13 lead which JSU couldn't overcome. The Bruins posted a .306 attack percentage during the first set converting 18 kills from 36 total attacks. Zuhlke recorded three of her kills in the first set.
JSU was again put in a large deficit in the second set which it rallied back from to cut the set to a one-point game before falling 25-22. Down 15-7, the Gamecocks used a 7-2 run and later a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 21-20. After a Belmont timeout, the Bruins took a pair of points to get back in control. Merget had four kills hitting .800 in the second set to lead the Gamecocks.
The third set opened similar to the first two as JSU fell behind 9-4, but the Gamecocks rallied with an 8-1 run to tie the set tie the set and go ahead 17-14. Belmont fought back to regain the lead 20-19 as the two began to go back-and-forth to finish the set. After tied 28-28, the Bruins were able to put away two-straight kills to seal the set and match.
JSU continues Ohio Valley Conference play on the road Saturday with a 2 p.m. match at Tennessee State.
